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Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Becoming Real: A Map of Tenth-Century Spain for Seven Noble Knights

One of the first things my publisher asked for when they accepted Seven Noble Knights for publication was a map showing the locations mentioned in the novel. I had always hoped to have something like that, to orient the reader and because I love maps. I knew I wouldn't be able to cobble together anything that met my artistic standards or that was specific enough to Seven Noble Knights, so I looked for a map artist who could include everything I wanted.

Nuno Alexandre Vieira has a lot of impressive artistic credentials under his belt. He won me over when he said he was from Portugal and knew the Iberian Peninsula well.

The map is now complete. Without further ado:

It's exciting to see the places in Seven Noble Knights, to have this artifact in the real world that attests to the presence of my beloved story. It's black and white because the book won't be printed in color—that may contribute to the aged feel. The lettering was done by hand and I can't imagine anything about this map being any better. I hope the artist wins an award for it.

Now that I can imagine opening Seven Noble Knights to the first few pages and turning the book to orient this map and pore over it, the publication of the biggest project of my life is that much more real. Thanks for sharing my excitement!